Karl May

Karl May

ERIKS Product Manager Fluid Power

I have been very fortunate to have spent the past 23 years within the fluid power arena which I am very passionate about and love to this day! 

I started as mobile engineer replacing hoses on every conceivable machine in the UK. I then progressed to buying my own businesses in hydraulic hose replacement and ran these for 10 years. After selling up I became district sales manager for one of our A-Brand suppliers, Gates Europe. Here I gained invaluable business acumen serving Scandinavia & Northern Europe with both OEM & distributors. I then transferred over to Kongsberg Automotive looking after customers globally with their speciality products of PTFE hose again with OEM & distributors.

I have now brought all of this knowledge into product management here at ERIKS and look after pneumatics, hydraulics & filtration as the Fluid Power Product Manager within the Flow Equipment PBU.

An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Have You Overlooked Your Industrial Hose?

by Karl May

Whatever the industry, it’s impossible to eliminate all risks. COMAH regulators know that’s the case, but they still want you to do everything you can to...

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Prioritising Health and Safety and Efficiency

by Karl May

It goes without saying that cost savings are viewed as the pinnacle of success for a project at the completion stage, but in reality, there are several other...

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Are You Crimping Correctly?

by Karl May

For people who aren’t familiar with crimping, it’s the process of joining two or more pieces of metal by deforming either or both elements so that they hold...

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Bending to Customer Demand - A Flexible, Light Hose

by Karl May

In response to customer demands for lighter, more flexible, easier to handle hoses, Gates has introduced to new patent-pending MXT.

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Industry 4.0 - Are You Ready?

by Karl May

We sat down with SMC Pneumatics UK Ltd Strategic Product Sales Manager, Pete Humphreys, to discuss the impacts of Industry 4.0.

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Famous Last Words? - High Quality Hose Clips With Jubilee

by Karl May

Who knows how many times saving pennies on a hose clip has cost thousands of pounds in downtime, labour costs and lost production when it fails?

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

The Leakiest Link

by Karl May

Hydraulic and industrial hose assemblies have traditionally been seen as commodity items. However increasing health and safety legislation, and a growing...

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Taking the Long View on Safety with Festo

by Karl May

When your new product R&D can take up to 15 years, you want actual production to be as fast and reliable as possible. And when your entire production system...

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

How to Prepare Your Air

by Karl May

You know the expression that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration? Well, compressed air is 100% preparation for 0% condensation. And 0% dirt, oil and..

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An Open-and-Shut Case of Compliance

Don't Just React: Act!

by Karl May

Reactive maintenance is a policy that’s been made to sound respectable by giving it a professional sounding name. But when you consider that it’s essentially...

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